The Last Word
Twopines, Carol
THE LAST WORD Carol Twopines My Life in Crime Since 1970,1 have been a criminal, violating both state and Federal law. I'm risking my freedom and custody of my daughter so my family can enjoy...
...I do remember that questions were asked about our morals, ethics, and sex life...
...That was my first crime...
...The welfare representative said babysitting expenses and school fees could be deducted from my earned income, but not the costs of transportation, books, and art supplies...
...I asked for a hearing to challenge welfare's decision...
...She said HUD didn't want to rent to persons who would be putting more than one half of their monthly income toward housing...
...one has parents who help her out, and one goes to school, occasionally selling marijuana and some of her artwork...
...In the end, though, the allowances netted me $21 worth of food stamps...
...Since welfare rules make it illegal for my family to enjoy life's essentials, I have a second business that is illegal in itself and illegal because I do not report the income...
...This involved several interviews so painful that I cannot recall the actual dialogue...
...When we went to get the prescription filled, the pharmacist told me that Medi-Cal no longer paid for any children's medication with codeine in it...
...We earned the aid by driving thirty-five miles, filling out a bunch of forms, answering a string of questions, and returning home, where we had to wait several days—still with no food—until we could again make the trip and pick up our package...
...I was called into the welfare office and told that I must state the price of the smock...
...one does night duty at a nursing home for $ 100 a month...
...We break the rules out of need...
...ANDREW SHACHAT was done despite the fact that I have to sign a paper at school stipulating that I will use education grants for education...
...According to the dentist, Medi-Cal would pay only for a full upper plate, a full lower, or both...
...We are resisting enforced poverty...
...I protested to the welfare office, to no avail...
...I have the right to appeal in welfare court or in superior court...
...four have an employed husband or male parent in the home...
...The financial aid worker called the welfare office for me, still with no results...
...As she was being discharged from the hospital, she was given a prescription for a codeine-based painkiller...
...six live with unreported boyfriends who work at least part time...
...I spend $130 a month on food for the family, and our diet is well below mainstream nutritional standards...
...I told her I was on AFDC, and she said I was not eligible to apply for housing in that particular project...
...Welfare turned us down because we had no stove to cook food...
...Five years ago, I went to the dentist with a friend who needed a denture to replace five teeth...
...one woman cleans a day-care center twelve hours a week for $15...
...In the early 1970s, I got pregnant and went on the AFDC rolls...
...We had moved to the bank of a stream—"starving off the land," we called it—and requested emergency food assistance...
...I'm risking my freedom and custody of my daughter so my family can enjoy food, shelter, clothing, and education...
...Since babysitting alone amounted to $75 per month, I figured that I would be reinstated in the food stamp program at the full $74...
...The last time I checked, not one of the seven obstetrician/gynecologists in my town would accept pregnant women covered by Medi-Cal...
...I said that I would not be forced to be rude, and I threatened to take the welfare worker and her agency to court over the issue...
...The worker ordered me to estimate the value of the smock, but I said I had never priced such an item...
...My next AFDC check was written out for $ 10 less than the usual amount...
...That was the last time I reported any outside income on the monthly eligibility report, Item Number One...
...I then gave all the butter and most of the cheese to a friend in exchange for the gas money we had needed to get the food...
...When I finally got my check, it was not for the full amount...
...Last year, I went apartment-hunting at a so-called low-income complex that is subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD...
...More recently, welfare counted my academic grants as earned income and took away my $74 monthly allotment of food stamps...
...Eventually, a friend who wasn't on welfare provided us with a note saying that we had full use of his stove...
...A financial aid adviser at school informed me that this action was illegal...
...I am a welfare recipient...
...My situation is not unusual...
...This Carol Twopines is the pen name of a California writer...
...I responded that my sister did not tell me—it was a present, after all—and I would never ask how much a gift cost...
...One Christmas, my sister gave me a maternity smock...
...I have been breaking welfare laws since my first contact with the welfare system: My husband and I had run out of food, and we applied for surplus Government agricultural goods...
...But surely this doesn't apply to a person who's on AFDC already," I said to him...
...Welfare administrators stopped deducting my loans and work-study money only after the school's attorney got in touch with them...
...two live out in the country and grow marijuana...
...On the welfare department's income statement, under Item Number One, I reported my sister's gift...
...My first encounter with a Catch-22 came a short time later...
...The welfare office had subtracted the amount of my student loans and work-study money from my AFDC award...
...it wouldn't pick up the bill for a partial plate...
...He just shrugged his shoulders...
...My daughter had to have her appendix removed last year...
...About three months after my request, I had a hearing...
...The assistant manager asked the amount of my income and where it came from...
...Finally, the worker estimated that my gift was worth $10...
...I have an outside income that I do not report to welfare officials...
...The welfare worker insisted that I ask my sister...
...It's my favorite empty threat...
...The project was low-income, she said, but not that low-income...
...Unfortunately, I can't afford a lawyer...
...The presiding referee explained that the Government uses a sliding scale of income to keep food stamps from students who are supported by their parents...
...we were actually too poor to be helped...
...Such obstacles are common in the area of health care, too...
...I interviewed nineteen AFDC families'in my town and found that all of them have some hustle besides welfare: Three mothers sell marijuana...
Vol. 49 • August 1985 • No. 8
